your info on
santhara is provocative and thank you for having the guts to present this.

what strikes
me about the jain approach is how they frame the situation: it's looked at
as a significant method of evolution of the soul in the passage from life
into death, form into emptiness, from one bardo to the next. when the
aspirant announces their intention to perform santhara the community
supports them during this rite-of- passage. the death is then celebrated
with a celebration.

this realm of
the individual and collective interior, the invisible, non-measurable realm
is not a consideration in western culture, for the most part. although it
was a major aspect of christian europe before the "age of enlightenment."
but these days "if it can't be measured it doesn't exist." thus santhara,
euthenasia, suicide, sepuku, mercy killing, gets lumped together as "taking
life."--- taking, stealing, robbing the material.

whereas in the
jain view, supporting a person's intention die and move on is giving
liberation to their soul. i see compassion and dignity in this.

"it's better
to die 10 years too early than 10 minutes too late." where is your mind at
that crucial moment.